[Great Bazaar] The Hag Does Not Haggle (Closed)

by **Jilitse** on August 9th, 2010, 9:38 pm

The Hag Does Not Haggle
17th of Summer 510 AV
Bargain, bargain prices!

Jilitse was wearing the usual old lengthy cloak that smelled of rainwater and moss. An odd scent for summer, but she was never really particular about the kind of perfume she used. She had bought a basket to serve as a container for the things she needed to buy today. Jil was settling down in Syliras for the meantime, under the gracious wing of Stitch, the blind man who ran the Orphanage.

Jerom Sendrick was kind, giving her quite the elaborate directions where to get what. The man probably did not believe Jil when she said she remembers everything he said, but he did not want to waste his time talking to a Nuit, so he shrugged and bid Jil goodbye.

She breezed through countless booths, past through other people who were doing their own shopping. The bazaar was a good place to find odd goods, if you know how to look for them. Peddlers called out ot her, some were wary of Nuits, but most of them treated her as a customer, knowing that the empty basket in her arm meant she had the intention to shop.

Although she started the day early, she was quick to dawdle. No sooner than reaching her first stop, she was already listening to two women bickering over dried fish. The customer was arguing to a cheaper price, displeased at the seller's counter offers. But then, they seem to be in a deadlock. The fish seller wanted to sell her goods, the customer was adamant about getting a good bargain; neither of them wanted to compromise.

Jil's interest at the scene heightened when she saw somebody else come up, a fisherman who had his gear up about him, smiling dandy. He was hungry, he said, and needed something to eat. The fish seller immediately handed him a few, tied in a bundle. The first customer gasped. The fisherman laughed, and then looked somber, he gave his thanks and commented on how he appreciates the peddler's help now that his wife had passed away. Peddler winks, and says she's doing it for the kids. When the fisherman left, she explained that the man was the cousin of her husband, and was a good supplier of fish.

The Nuit was baffled, of course, the man had taken goods from the peddler without paying, a trade in which the peddler did not gain any profit at all. It was only logical to pursue trade whenever it brings better profit. But perhaps, she thought, it lies in the relationship of the two humans. The first customer being a thrifty stranger, and the second one a relative in need.

Watching the same fish peddler discreetly, Jilitse moved herself to the nearby shop, a bargain store for clothes. Jil pretended to browse the second-hand apparel on display.

An elderly female came, asking for discounts, who - to Jilitse's surprise (if it can be called that) - the peddler accommodated quite enthusiastically. The Nuit fiddled with a scarf as she listened to their loud laughter. She noted that the fish peddler was warm towards this particular customer and talked to her with a sense of respect.

Not wanting to be confused with all the discounts and non-discounts, Jilitse sauntered away, gliding smoothly from booth to booth.

by **Jilitse** on August 9th, 2010, 10:35 pm

"How much for that frog?"

"You want this toad?" The lanky man who was tending a small animal shop was bewildered. He twitched under Jil's stare.

"Toad. Yes, I would like to purchase it." She eyed the frog which was kept inside a small jar with a wooden cover that had small holes punched on it.

"That's 1 sm for you." He handed her the jar reluctantly.

Jilitse took out a golden miza and handed it to the animal peddler. The man was trembling as he reached out for her payment. Jilitse stopped her hand in mid-air and asked, "Those little birds that sing, what are those?"

The man sighed, but did not look relieved. "Those are chickadees."

"Chickadees." She repeated softly. "How much for them?"

The peddler frowned, contemplating why a Nuit would like to own a toad and some chickadees. "Ah, well, those don't come cheap. 5 gm for all of them."

"I only need to purchase two." Jilitse was checking her purse for more miza. She placed the croaking toad in a jar on the basket and gingerly took the small plaited cage of the songbirds.

"Those things eat, you know." He told her, and handed her a small pack of seeds. "These should last a week or so. Keep them fed, and provide them water..." He looked away after noticing that he was being stared at. Of course, why would this Nuit care about the needs of a bird?

"Oh, I need to keep them alive you mean." Jilitse nodded. And handed the man 3 mizas. He gave her back one.

"Oh, just... take care of them." He scratched his head, avoiding her gaze, "I don't care what you want done with the frog, I didn't think anybody would want to buy it, so it's yours for free. It's about to die anyway."

"Ah." Jilitse said, "I do not care."

The man bit his lip and twitched. "Just... take care of the birds. I'm a bit fond of them."

Fond of them, Jilitse wondered, pausing. Do humans put birds they are fond of in a cage? She examined the birds, round and fluffy with their white and buff cheeks and black bib. She placed them into the basket, together with the feed, gave the peddler a polite thank you.

by **Jilitse** on August 20th, 2010, 11:12 pm

"Go away, go away," The burly man said, "I don't sell corpses, you rotten corpse!" He adjusted his belt under his big fat belly and rubbed his mustache.

Jilitse stared at him and waited for the opportune moment to talk. "Go on, now, go away. Your presence is bad for business." The man shuddered at the Nuit's stare, glancing at her face every now and then. Shooing the Nuit did not seem to have any effect. He knew well that he should not raise a hand at the undead, for she was not doing anything wrong. That is, if there was nothing wrong with standing perfectly still in front of someone's store and looking at the shop onwer directly in the eye without moving, blinking, or breathing. Yep, there was nothing definitely wrong with that, the burly man kept telling himself. "Pick someone else to stare at," he was now fanning himself nervously. The day was not hot, but he was sweating profusely. He haven't sold a piece of his wooden toys, and none of his trinkets seem to be attracting customers.

Jilitse was not really ogling at the man, but she had been wondering about the materials the man used for his creations. His style was to wrap around copper wires on his sculptures, giving the toys a certain design. Of course, being a craft master - or so he claimed - he charged high prices for his wares. The Nuit did not want to splurge on some cheap toy that she can probably replicate on her own, and she certainly did not want to provoke the man into scaring himself any more than what she was doing.

After a few hours, the man looked frustrated enough, so Jilitse gave him a bargain, "I'd buy your wares if you give them to me at half the price." It was not her idea of course, but she had heard the lines uttered by somebody else before. The shop owner declined this, and insist on the dictated price. Jilitse then would make a counter-offer. "At three fifths," she offered, but the owner will not yield. "Fine, at your price then, but you give me enough parts to make one."

The fat shop owner smiled, thinking that the Nuit was incapable of anything that did not involve stealing people's corpses. "Madam, I'd give you enough parts to make three!" He laughed. Jilitse stared at him blankly. The laugh died slowly. He handed her a basket of junk items. "Here ya go," he said, smile mocking, "That will be 40 gm."

"I heard you say these toys were all for 20 gm." Jilitse narrowed her eyes, her tone calm, cold, but intimidating.

"Well, that's cause I'm giving you these free of charge." He bent over his small table, nearly toppling over, and then handed her a coil of copper wire. "That's about ten feet or so, you can't easily find them anywhere."

"Mister, my brain might be dead but my mind is present in this conversation." Jilitse snapped her head away, "The toys are for 20 gm, and instead of these junk," she pointed at the basket of sculpted wood and junk, "I can easily purchase raw materials of a better quality. I do not believe you are supposed to make profit out of something that has no value." She started to walk away.

"Wait, wait, madam... come back. I'll let you have them at any price you want."

Jilitse paused, wheeled around and stared down at him with arms folded. She had no intention to do business with this man of course, but since he seemed scared of her retribution, "Curses." She whispered and smiled. Of course, the better thing she would have done was to demand 20 gm for everything, the man would have agreed by now. However, the Nuit was displeased with somebody who was certainly unfair in pricing his goods.

The Nuit turned her back at the man, neglecting his reactions, if there were any, and slided five booths down the road.

by **Jilitse** on September 15th, 2010, 9:18 am

Because she was Nuit and didn't know how to properly bargain, Jilitse had to settle for checking every single booth for the items she may need, comparing prices from one shop to another. At the very least she was able to get fair deals on the items on her shopping list. She was able to find and buy a gadgeteering toolkit for 150 gm, a pound of copper wire for 2 gm, two pounds of wooden blocks, wheels, and sticks for toymaking that cost 10gm, and some scrap pieces of metal for 2 gm. With all those basic necessities in her basket, Jilitse strolled more around the bazaar looking for anything that might pique he interest.

She noticed that some of the humans went to the bazaar for the sake of buying, where they bought anything they fancy on a whim. While observing the market place, Jilitse realized that getting the best deal out of a trade was not just about haggling with the shopkeeper. No, getting bargains was far more than demanding for a lower price. She realized this when she came upon an old man who was selling some of his books. Rare books, a small sign said. Jilitse rummaged through his pile and found one titled Zootomy: Amphibians. It was a rare picture book that detailed on amphibian anatomy, complete with sketches of the nervous, muscle, and reproductive system. She had the opportunity to talk to the old man, who seemed to be a professor, if not a scholar of sorts. He was almost blind and couldn't see Jilitse. He was the kind who must have been a dapper when he was younger, but, like the disease of those who had fallen ill due to the passing of Tanroa, he talked too much about his younger days. Jilitse was polite enough to keep him company as she dug around for more books. There were basic ones about plants and animals, but nothing looked as important or helpful than the first book she laid her hands on.

She inquired about the price and he gave her 100 gm, which Jilitse was ready to pay for. The old man, however, stalled her payment and inquired about the purchase of interest. "Why this book?" Jilitse said, "I bought a frog and neither the knowledge about the fabrics that made up its body nor the means to dissect it." The man was quite curious about her and Jilitse started talking in hushed tones, magic was not something she loved to discuss in public. When she got closer into revealing herself as a Nuit and as an Animator, the old man declared, "My heart won't let me charge you for more than 50 gm. This book is second hand anyway, and there is no longer any particular interest in biology these days." He smiled meaningfully, took 50 gm from Jilitse, and bidded her well in her research.

Somehow, Jilitse knew he knew. But how?

OOCPrice for picture book was set/approved by Tarot.

by **Jilitse** on September 15th, 2010, 11:16 am

On her way back home, Jilitse was unfortunate enough to be persuaded into buying other materials for her Animation project. Although there was no immediate need for it, she took a vial of ink and some paint and brushes for 2 gm. She also bought a few pieces of chalk for 5 cm. She picked up a clay jug and a clay pitcher for 5cm.

While at the Bazaar, she picked up new clothes. The ones she had were worn out and they needed to be replaced. She bought a new cotton cloak, leather gloves, and a peasant dress; losing her 1 gm and 3 sm.

The Nuit was also enticed, if not hypnotized, into buying out sets of dice, 4 sets of four, eight, ten, twelve, twenty and a pair of six-sided dice in a big throwing cup. She barely recognized the purchase until she walked away from the shop. Anyway, that was 2 sm lost, and a cupful of not-so-useless dice. She decided it was a lesson to learn, not to look at the shopkeeper's eyes or to talk to them too much, especially if it was a shady looking gypsy. The Nuit felt like she was jinxed, or maybe the gypsy was just that good a peddle. This incident was repeated again, when she came upon a silver tongue who insisted that she buy his collapsing cart for 50 gm. She tried to argue with the peddler, who was a very bulky hairy man, that she had no need for a collapsing cart. He was quick to cross her path and reason with her. Jilitse couldn't make her point straight enough, and before he started selling his pair of sounding drums to Jilitse, she agreed, and thought it was fair, that she buy the sliding grease (though she had no real use for it) for 20 gm instead. "20% discount, be grateful to me woman!" He smiled his toothy grin and persuaded his customer to come back again soon. The Nuit, weary and confused from acquiring useless items, headed straight for home.

By then her time in the Bazaar was over. Berating herself a little for buying too many materials, she carried her basket of books back to the home. Shopping was an experience she took pleasure in, if only for the fact that she could now plan and use the materials she wanted just by purchasing them, without any need for paper work and requests forms like she used to have in Sahova. Jilitse had to be careful though, as she did not exactly have a lot of money on her. Maybe she should seriously try to find a job.

Receipt :